The government has set out plans to keep asylum seekers under satellite surveillance, rather than being held in detention centres.David Blunkett, the home secretary, said that in 12 to 18 months it would be possible to fit failed applicants with a tag using satellite technology to allow the authorities to pinpoint their location.

Blunkett added that the latest Asylum and Immigration Bill was the final phase of asylum reform.

According to official figures yesterday, ministers failed by just over 1,000 to meet the prime minister's pledge to halve by September the 2002 figure of 91,000 asylum applicants and dependants. However a Home Office target to halve applications was met.